So, I was unluckily reminded today of something that happened last April when I saw Five Finger Death Punch in concert that I still cringe at today.

We were stood outside waiting to get in, it was a fairly small venue when we were getting to the front, I spotted Upon A Burning Body's drummer getting his gear out of a van to move into the venue.

At the time, I was 14, so went with my mum (free tickets, plus she's a fan) and I pointed him out to her, fanboying a little. But, when she looked at him she happened to see him spit on the ground, to which she -very- loudly tutted at (tsk tsk tsk). He then looked up and gave the two of us that look. I was and still am dying inside at the memory that my mother dissed the drummer for UABB.

-cringe-

So, what about you lot? Any other awful concert memories?
-Matty


Note: This is UABB:

In 1991 I saw Iron Maiden and Anthrax at the Long Beach Arena.  (Scream for me, Long Beach!!!)  It was all fun and games until the end, when they wrapped up with "Run To The Hills".  The people on the floor began to remove the soft cushions from their chairs (and I don't think anyone even sat in the chairs for the entire show) and fling them up in the air.  Unfortunately for me, sitting in the stands, some incredibly defective douchenozzle a few rows back decided to destroy his seat by ripping the bottom off of it (it probably weighed 5 pounds) and fling it out in a similar manner. 

It hit me square in the head. 

I started bleeding profusely from the top of my head from a 3-4 inch gash, and was eventually taken to the hospital by one of the many ambulances already parked outside. (It's like they knew there would be incidents like this beforehand.  Scary...)   Since my situation was not life-threatening, unlike the drug overdosers, I got the very last ambulance.  I was taken to the nearest hospital, Saint Whatever and asked by a nurse what had happened. 

Her response?  "You deserved that for listening to that devil music.  You need to repent."

I won't even repeat what I had to say to her here, but I'm pretty sure she left the room in tears after I ripped her a new one.  Finally, at about 2:30AM, I got a doctor to see me and put a dozen stitches or so in my head.   Convincing him that shaving the top of my head first wasn't going to be a good idea for him wasn't fun, but I somehow won the argument.  Being an angry, drunken 22 year old that outweighed him by 75 pounds probably helped.

I'm just happy my friends waited to take me home when they could have abandoned me 125 miles from home in the middle of the night.

Years later, I found out who the seat-chucking d-bag was.

He ended up being the singer in my band. 

I still can't stand him. 

Me and three drunk buddies driving to a Molly Hatchet show at the Cape Cod Coliseum. A couple of times the radio announcer said "If you're on your way to the Molly Hatchet show" and we went crazy every time. Got to the Coliseum and found out the show was cancelled...and that's what the radio guy was saying!

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on April 08, 2015, 02:44:16 PM
Me and three drunk buddies driving to a Molly Hatchet show at the Cape Cod Coliseum. A couple of times the radio announcer said "If you're on your way to the Molly Hatchet show" and we went crazy every time. Got to the Coliseum and found out the show was cancelled...and that's what the radio guy was saying!

That happened to me once.  I got almost all the way to Long Beach for a Deep Purple show, when I heard on the radio, "If you're on your way to the Deep Purple show, turn around- it's not happening."   This was the third time that I tried to see Deep Purple, but this always seemed to happen.  In fact, a certain guitar player whose name rhymes with "B*tchy Crackwh*re" has a penchant for cancelling shows at the last minute.  I've had tickets to see him five times and only saw him play once.  He almost cancelled that show as well.   

Rumor has it that Rainbow is making a comeback and will tour one last time.  I'm guessing that my tickets for that will probably be as useless as lottery tickets.

Saw Foghat three times, I still can't hear!

Quote from: Jill F on April 08, 2015, 02:41:16 PM
In 1991 I saw Iron Maiden and Anthrax at the Long Beach Arena.  (Scream for me, Long Beach!!!)  It was all fun and games until the end, when they wrapped up with "Run To The Hills".  The people on the floor began to remove the soft cushions from their chairs (and I don't think anyone even sat in the chairs for the entire show) and fling them up in the air.  Unfortunately for me, sitting in the stands, some incredibly defective douchenozzle a few rows back decided to destroy his seat by ripping the bottom off of it (it probably weighed 5 pounds) and fling it out in a similar manner. 

It hit me square in the head. 

I started bleeding profusely from the top of my head from a 3-4 inch gash, and was eventually taken to the hospital by one of the many ambulances already parked outside. (It's like they knew there would be incidents like this beforehand.  Scary...)   Since my situation was not life-threatening, unlike the drug overdosers, I got the very last ambulance.  I was taken to the nearest hospital, Saint Whatever and asked by a nurse what had happened. 

Her response?  "You deserved that for listening to that devil music.  You need to repent."

I won't even repeat what I had to say to her here, but I'm pretty sure she left the room in tears after I ripped her a new one.  Finally, at about 2:30AM, I got a doctor to see me and put a dozen stitches or so in my head.   Convincing him that shaving the top of my head first wasn't going to be a good idea for him wasn't fun, but I somehow won the argument.  Being an angry, drunken 22 year old that outweighed him by 75 pounds probably helped.

I'm just happy my friends waited to take me home when they could have abandoned me 125 miles from home in the middle of the night.

Years later, I found out who the seat-chucking d-bag was.

He ended up being the singer in my band. 

I still can't stand him.

Wow, really small world!  I was at that concert and vaguely remember someone near me getting hit in the head with a seat.  It's weird to think that might have been you; I'm glad you ended up okay (relatively speaking).  I've been to quite a few concerts with seat flinging incidents in LA, most notably Monsters of Rock in '88 and Slayer in '91.  Considering how close I've been to getting hit, I feel pretty lucky.

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on April 08, 2015, 03:07:20 PM
Saw Foghat three times, I still can't hear!

Sadly, most of my hearing damage is self-inflicted.  Marshall Amps are like Ferraris- they only do their thing when cranked all the way up.

One time I met Jim Marshall (RIP) at a NAMM show.  I told him that they should make hearing aids in black with the white Marshall script logo. "From the people who wrecked your hearing in the first place..."  He wasn't the slightest bit amused. 

Ironically, I had to yell that in his ear!

Tool made Foghat look like chamber music as far as loudness goes, BTW.   I couldn't hear for three days after a show where they used 50,000 watts when 5,000 would have been overkill for the venue.  (And yes, I've done tech work for both bands.)

Crowd riding during Red Hot Chili Peppers at Lollapalooza in 1992.  A hole opened up in the crowd and I came down backwards on shoulders and neck.  Another inch or so, and I hate to think what shape I would have been in.  Makes me cringe/shudder every time I think of how badly that could have ended.  Was one of the greatest lineups I have ever seen though.

This wasn't at a concert, but it involved a musician.

I went to a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game with my girlfriend at the time.  We sat two rows ahead of a heavily-tattooed guy, whom we were pretty sure was the drummer from Fallout Boy (he is originally from Milwaukee). We looked up some pictures of him on a phone and confirmed it, but didn't do anything about it - it looked like he was just spending time with his family and we thought to just let him be.

Well halfway into the game an opposing player struck out swinging and they started playing "Sugar, We're Going Down" over the PA (we're going down, down in an earlier round / and sugar, we're going down swinging). I wanted to see what his reaction was to hearing his own song and without thinking I snapped my head around and looked him right in the eyes and he gave me the scariest death stare I have ever gotten in return.

I went to an Adam Ant show at the Orpheum.  'nuff said!

Bands that are touring probably get a whole lot worse than what your mother did. They are over run, worn out and have seen thousands of people. Chances are the band member doesn't even have any memory of that.

I don't have any bad band memories, never went to a lot of concerts. Music is a major trigger for me though, and not in a good way. Its a powerful thing, music. Most of the songs I really like came from when I was going through a really bad time, and all it takes is hearing it on the overhead speakers at the store to make me get pretty dark for a couple of days. I like the music, but its not worth the side effect.

sam1234

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on April 08, 2015, 06:16:44 PM
I went to an Adam Ant show at the Orpheum.  'nuff said!

You win

Then there was the time where I had been full-time for a few weeks and still had WAY too much testosterone in my system at an Yngwie Malmsteen show at the House of Blues.  I was pretty drunk and the guy behind me kept yelling "Hey, t****y!" and other things.  Finally I had enough, turned around and punched him right in the face.  Ooops... 

I'm sooo glad I didn't have to go to boy jail! 

Since then, I have punched nobody.   The next time someone called me a t****y, I just told them in my best femme voice that they REALLY needed to work on their pickup lines.  He turned pretty red, BTW.

Quote from: Kylie on April 08, 2015, 06:30:13 PM
You win

Yes, but I share!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o41A91X5pns&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on April 08, 2015, 06:16:44 PM
I went to an Adam Ant show at the Orpheum.  'nuff said!

I went to see Adam Ant a couple of years ago at Royale in Boston. He still puts on an awesome show.

Was the crowd still decked out in redcoats and spiked hair? 

Quote from: Devlyn Marie on April 08, 2015, 07:07:17 PM
Was the crowd still decked out in redcoats and spiked hair? 

It was more of a laid back crowd. Probably some of the same who were at the Orpheum back then.

I saw U2 in concert at the old World Music Theater in Tinley Park, IL.  Didn't start off well when my friend realized he forgot the tickets halfway there.  We still got there in plenty of time to score great spots in the lawn.  We were right up front.  During Public Enemy's opening show (REALLY!? Public Enemy opening for U2?) 2 friends walked off to get something and our idiot friend invited 2 girls to sit with us.  The 2 girls suddenly become 3 girls and 3 guys, and with crowd pushing from behind, we were getting squeezed out our spots.  My claustrophobia couldn't take it anymore and I spent most of the show listening from a bench near the entrance.
To put a cherry on that sundae, it took us an hour and 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot.  I was driving.

Ozzfest July 24, 1999- Ballbuster Pavilion, Devoid, CA.

We got up early, drove 60 miles out to San Berdoo and sat in traffic for what seemed like an eternity.  The 15 freeway was like a parking lot.  We missed System of a Down due to that miscalculation.   It was over 100 degrees, there were no water fountains in sight and they were selling water bottles for $6.  Nice gouge, Sharon...

Godsmack sounded like crap. 
Deftones failed to impress.

By this time, my sunscreen had been sweated off several times over and I was looking like a rockin' lobster.

Primus was good.
Rob Zombie (whose band I'd later tech for) was surprisingly entertaining for someone whose songs all sound the same.  You could tell he really liked him some Alice Cooper.

Then Slayer happened.   All of us on in the GA lawn area witnessed some of the most brutal mosh pits of all time.  It was pure anarchy and chaos.   People started peeling up chunks of turf and throwing them at each other, starting a literal turf war.  There was lots of blood and broken bones.   I spent most of the show trying not to get hurt and with my back to the stage.

During Black Sabbath it got even crazier.  Some geniuses put all the venue's trash into piles and made bonfires, sometimes with flames getting 12 feet in the air, then moshed around (and through!) the fires.  People got burned left and right, and we all had to dodge airborne burning debris.  There was way more pyrotechnics off stage then there was on stage.   Then Ozzy shouted, "Show us your t*ts!"   Lo and behold, I saw more t*ts than I will ever see again in my life.  I mean, thousands of pairs, all at once.   I'd hate to think of what would have happened if he told people to kill each other.

Then the nastiest surprise of all.   We were all forced to exit single-file, one car at a time through a police sobriety checkpoint.   If you thought stack parking sucked, this made it 10 times worse.  When they busted someone, they'd take their sweet time and we all had to wait for them to clear out.  We had to wait almost 4 hours to get our sunburned, dehydrated a$$es out of the lot.

That was the last time I saw a show there, and I will NEVER return to that venue.
 
The things we do for metal... 

I once met Michael Schenker backstage at a UFO concert.  He signed my ticket, then immedieately turned into a total raving lunatic and loudly told us to f*** off.

Well, I'd say Ozzy's assessment of him was right on the money.  When Ozzy says you're crazy, it's like Robert Downey, Jr. saying you have a drug problem.